Malcolm Butler finally weighs in about Super Bowl benching

Now that Malcolm Butler is no longer with the Patriots, he’s no longer obliged to stay quiet about why he was forced to miss out on the action in Super Bowl LII.

Butler played only one snap in the game — on special teams — and there was a lot of rumors swirling as to why. Well, now that he’s a member of the Titans, he was able to explain why he thought he was benched during the game.

The veteran cornerback did take the high road for the most part, though, and said that he was feeling ill in the days leading up to the game. Butler also suggested that the matchups against the Eagles receivers may have played a role as well, in speaking with Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald.

Just spoke with Malcolm Butler on a number of topics, including his Super Bowl benching. He hasn’t spoken with Bill Belichick since they departed Minnesota but surmised why he didn’t play that night: pic.twitter.com/ccCsoCLnLj

So we still don’t know exactly why Butler was benched. Maybe he was ill during the week, or maybe he was out partying a bit too hard. If the latter was the case, it wouldn’t be a good look for him or the Patriots organization, so that’s a scenario where both parties would favor a vanilla reason such as “matchups” rather than what actually happened.

It doesn’t matter now, though, as that’s all water under the bridge, and Butler has a fresh start with a new team. This is likely the last we’ll hear about it.